Nick Shears

After growing up in Evanston and New Jersey, Nick Shears is a Yankee fan by blood (his uncle gave him a signed Joe Dimaggio book at birth) and a Cubs fan by principle. Although this may be one reason you do not like what he says, understand that this complicated baseball enthusiast offers a necessary East Coast perspective in an all too central minded town. He is ready to take on any of your questions or comments at shearsna@eckerd.edu.

Recent Posts By Nick Shears

Sky "Turn on Switch" and Dominate Atlanta

The Chicago Sky broke out of a four-game losing streak Sunday when they took charge from the opening minutes of an anticipated rematch against the Atlanta Dream and never looked back. "Today we were definitely able to turn on the switch," said Sky head coach Steven Key, "We had a lot of enthusiasm before the game, and we carried it onto [read more...]

A Tale of Two Sweeps

It seemed only fitting that this year's Crosstown Showdown ended in the same fashion it started – with a sweep. "I think it'll be a different Monday in Chicago," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said after the White Sox swept the Cubs on Sunday night in a 5-1 win at U.S. Cellular Field, just one week after being swept at Wrigley [read more...]

ESPN ceases to amaze me

Blood, a Black Eye, and a Blooper In between innings of  last night's game between the Red Sox and the Diamond Backs, Kevin Youkilis exited after a practice ground ball thrown by Mike Lowell popped him in the face, leaving a black eye that made his head look big. The incident, while rather trivial and more typical of a Little League game, was kindling for the ESPN announcers as they [read more...]

As season continues, Rays act their age

After brawling with the New York Yankees during Spring Training and the Boston Red Sox last week, the Rays’ players are going to their teammates for a fight, evident in yesterday’s tiff between the catcher, Dioner Navarro, and starting pitcher, Matt Garza. After shaking off two signals from Navarro, Garza floated in a high fast ball to the Rangers' German [read more...]

Burned Out

ESPN has been notorious for inflating the importance of trivial games and news, but lately the trend of over-emphasizing the expected or mundane has gotten worse for the media monolith.Take, for instance, college hoops. The build up to the Tennessee vs. Memphis match was similar to a Democratic Primary debate, as ESPN disputed, dramatized, and advertised the game to the [read more...]

And The New Bears Quarterback Is... Another Competition

Every time Jerry Angelo gets on his soapbox it's as if he's going to announce some magic plan to dispel the crooked fate of the Bears. But like Cedric Benson's yards per carry average in Chicago, Angelo's rhetoric disappoints again and again. For someone who's in charge of $30 million and the foreseeable future of the franchise, it's about time [read more...]

Closing Time

As a Cubs fan, January crawled along painfully. Johan Santana went to the Mets and everyone at the Cubs Convention seemed consciously aware of the ownership question mark looming overhead.Following the convention, the critical spotlight-usually cast on James Hendry-shined uneasily on Crane Kenney, the guy in charge of negotiating the fate of the franchise. While Kenney spoke of parking lots, [read more...]